Red Sox thrash Cabrera, Orioles

BASEBRAWL A melee broke out in the fourth when a Boston hitter was nearly hit by a pitch. Both teams charged onto the field and threw punches

AP , BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

The New York Mets' Lastings Milledge dives to catch a ball hit by the Houston Astros' Craig Biggio on Friday at Shea Stadium in New York. The Mets won 11-3.

PHOTO: AP

Boston handed an angry Baltimore pitcher Daniel Cabrera his 15th loss of the season on Friday as the Red Sox won 4-0.

The win keeps the Red Sox 6.5 games clear of New York atop the American League East with just 20 regular season games to play.

Both teams charged from the dugouts and bullpens in the fourth inning after Cabrera threw a fastball behind the ear of Dustin Pedroia. The pitch came immediately after a balk produced a run to put the Red Sox up 3-0. Punches were thrown and Cabrera (9-15) was ejected from the game before order was restored.

The fracas deflected some of the focus from Boston's Jon Lester (4-0), who won his third straight start, capping his comeback to the majors following a bout with lymphoma. The left-hander allowed only one runner past second base.

Tigers 6, Mariners 1

In Detroit, Curtis Granderson's homer put him in elite company as Detroit won a third straight game for the first time in nearly two months with victory over Seattle.

In a clash of two teams chasing New York in the wildcard race, the win put the Tigers three games behind the Yankees while Seattle drop four games off that pace.

Granderson hit his 20th home run in the seventh inning, making him the first player since George Brett in 1979 to record at least 20 homers, 20 triples and 20 doubles in one season.

Blue Jays 7, Devil Rays 2

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Dustin McGowan struck out a career-high 12 in eight innings to lead Toronto to victory over Tampa Bay.

McGowan (10-8) has given up just three runs in 16 innings over his past two starts.

Gregg Zaun bashed a three-run homer to make it 6-0 with two outs in the sixth off Edwin Jackson.

Yankees 3, Royals 2

In Kansas City, Missouri, Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada homered to help New York edge Kansas City.

Rodriguez homered for the sixth time in nine games, raising his major league-leading total to 49.

Joba Chamberlain pitched two scoreless innings.

The Yankees' rookie has not allowed a run in 11 games and 14 innings.

Angels 3, Indians 2

In Anaheim, California, Kendry Morales lined a single past a drawn-in infield for the winning run in the 10th inning as Los Angeles pipped Cleveland.

The win increased the Angels' AL West lead to a season-best nine games over Seattle.

The Indians' lead in the Central Division dropped to five games over Detroit.

Rangers 5, Athletics 3

In Arlington, Texas, Edinson Volquez pitched two-hit ball over six scoreless innings to lead Texas over Oakland.

Volquez (2-0) has won both starts since he was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma.

Frank Catalanotto homered, triple and drove in three runs for the Rangers.

White Sox 11, Twins 10

In Chicago, Jim Thome helped Chicago erase a six-run deficit in the ninth and make some major league history in its win over Minnesota.

Thome's 496th career homer highlighted a six-run White Sox rally in the ninth that tied the game after the Twins had scored six runs of their own in the top of the inning.

It was the first time two big league teams each scored six runs in the ninth to remain tied.

Florida's 6-3 victory on Friday handed Philadelphia its fifth loss in seven games, dropping the Phillies further off the pace in the National League East race.

Pat Burrell's three-run homer was the only scoring for the Phillies, who fell six games behind the NL East-leading New York and trail San Diego by 3.5 games in the wild-card standings.